Today’s press conference arises from a resolution of ActionSA’s Senate that the Party must communicate some serious concerns about the coalition arrangement in Ekurhuleni.
This has become necessary after a series of engagements within the multi-party coalition have revealed that some parties may be more committed than others to making the arrangement in Ekurhuleni last long enough to survive an imminent motion of no confidence and/or to pass a budget.
It is important to note that for ActionSA to enter the coalition arrangement in Ekurhuleni was a difficult decision because a multi-party coalition government could only survive with the support of either the ANC or the EFF. Such would be impossible from the ANC, given their ambition to have the municipality back, leaving only the EFF.
When the arrangements were being concluded, ActionSA expressed reservations about the lack of clarity around how such support could be obtained in order to prevent us entering into a doomed arrangement. We were assured that every effort would be made, and, in good faith, we accepted this and joined the arrangement.
Recent events, however, demonstrate that this commitment to attempt to build a stable coalition in Ekurhuleni may have been a hollow commitment to keep the ANC out of Ekurhuleni.
A proposal emanating from the EFF was brought to the coalition. It is important to note that the proposal arose after the DA had requested “to speak to Herman about talking to the EFF to see whether they are interested at all in voting for our candidates for committee chairs, and if so, whether or not they would demand a quid-pro-quo and what it would be.”
The proposal received from the EFF offered to bring their 81 councillors to support the coalitions in the 3 metros of Gauteng for which they sought committee chair positions in the legislatures. The proposal did not involve being in the executive, and it did not involve becoming formal coalition partners given the widely divergent policy agendas between the parties concerned.
The above proposal was declined by parties in the multi-party coalition without a counteroffer or, for that matter, even a response.
Arising from this, ActionSA sought to communicate our concerns last week at a press conference in order to communicate a very important difference in how we see our role in keeping the ANC out of the City of Ekurhuleni. We were asked by our coalition partners to hold-off and return to the table to try and resolve the issue, something ActionSA did in good faith.
A meeting of the Coalition Oversight Group took place last Wednesday the focus of which was intended to discuss solutions to the challenge in Ekurhuleni. The outcome of the meeting was that no engagement would be had with the EFF, that matters would be left to the local councillors to reach an agreement and that the group would not even favour the EFF with a response.
In ActionSA’s view, this outcome will seal the fate of the coalition in Ekurhuleni.
The mathematical fact is that the support of the EFF is the only viable option for the Ekurhuleni coalition government to survive what is likely to be an ANC-sponsored motion of no confidence within the next month or two. It is also the only way that a sufficient majority could be obtained to approve a budget and the service delivery plans of the City in May in the unlikely event that the coalition lasts until then.
ActionSA’s concern is that the views of the residents in these municipalities, which tend to centre around stopping corruption and service delivery, may be coming second to the internal party considerations. It is for that reason that ActionSA will be embarking upon a dual course of action:
“Would you like the coalition parties to work at arm’s length with the EFF in the legislature in order to keep your municipality out of ANC hands and delivering services?”
Or
“Would you prefer for the coalition parties to refuse to work with the EFF, even at arm’s length with the EFF in the legislature, and allow the municipality to return to the ANC?”
It is our belief that the residents of Ekurhuleni will tell political parties what they and everyone else has to do in their own respective workplaces; work with people that you may not like but that you need to work alongside for the greater good.
ActionSA has a number of issues with certain political parties with whom we entered these coalition arrangements, but these issues were deemed less important than publicly mandated removal of the ANC from these municipalities.
While the events that have led to this point in time are indeed very disappointing it is our hope that the multi-party coalition may come to its senses in Ekurhuleni and explores a pathway to surviving more than a few months.
We continue to assert that the success of these coalitions will be integral to voter turnout in 2024. The ANC’s decline is accelerating, and this has to be matched by a corresponding confidence in an alternative – which can only be a coalition in which voters can believe in its prospect to replace a failing ANC at national and provincial governments. This is what is at stake in these local government coalitions arising from 2021.
However, in the event that this does not happen, ActionSA regards itself duty bound to ensure that we are not complicit in what we perceive to be a hollow exploration of solutions that would build a coalition that lasts for the people of Ekurhuleni.
